Sustainable Finance Senior Specialist

Job Purpose / Role:

Drive sustainable finance at Riyad Bank including but not limited to working with business divisions to drive roll out and uptake of sustainable finance products, whilst upskilling all levels and representing the bank externally across the ESG & sustainability ecosystem.

Policies, Processes & Procedures:

• Implement and oversee relevant sustainability departmental policies, processes, standard operating procedures and instructions across the Bank

Day- to-day operations:

• Follows the day-to-day operations related to own job to ensure continuity of work

ESG & Sustainability:

• Supports the Sustainable Finance Lead, Senior Leaders/Initiative owners and Initiative Leaders to ensures implementation of the ESG & sustainability initiatives
• Engages with business units and support functions to ensure full alignment towards ESG & sustainability goals
• Participates in establishment of effective routines to integrate projects, keeps work on track and to identify issues early enough to course correct, if needed
• Supports ESG & Sustainability team to overcome performance challenges and barriers to progress
• Assists in ensuring proper tracking of progress against commitments (financial and non-financial), with simple progress dashboard
• Supports in Building ESG & sustainability organizational capability focused on Sustainable Finance
• Engages, connects across the organization with ability to leverage a strong network of change agents to strengthen sustainability culture
• Assists in leading operating model and governance change of the ESG & sustainability vision
• Ensures proper support for the ESG & sustainability governance and establish a clear drumbeat working rhythm
• Ensures good understanding of external stakeholder expectations, and represent these internally to ensure they are at the core of delivery
• Participates in representing the bank actively in external networks to strengthen reputation and create new opportunities

Sustainable Finance:

• Supports deal teams on the origination and execution of sustainable finance deals (e.g. sustainability-linked and use-of-proceeds transactions), working collaboratively with other deal team members and external deal participants to bring a transaction to a successful close
• Develops marketing materials for the bank sustainable finance offerings
• Continues innovations in new sustainable finance products and structures to solve real issues and identify new growth markets
• Develops and executes clear process guidance and resourcing (playbook, standard approaches where relevant) for sustainable finance work and support through planning and implementation phase
• Collaborates closely with the bank ERM Department to understand and advise on interplay between climate risks and opportunities

Continuous Improvement:

• Contributes to the identification of opportunities for continuous improvement of processes and practices taking into account international & regional best practice, improvement of business processes, cost reduction and productivity improvement

Reporting:

• Assists in the preparation of timely and accurate reports of Riyad Bank to meet company and department requirements, policies and standards

Safety, Quality & Environment:

• Complies with all relevant safety, quality and environmental management policies, procedures and controls to ensure a healthy and safe work environment

Related Assignments:

• Performs other related duties or assignments as directed

Qualification and Experience

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree in Sustainability related field or Business Administration, Economics, Finance, or Energy related field

Minimum Experience:

• 4-6 Years of relevant experience in Sustainable Finance or Investment, the majority of it in a banking environment

Language:

• English: Fluent or Native.

 In-depth knowledge on the banking sector in KSA and the region

Excellent leadership, mentoring and coaching skills

In-depth knowledge of the financial and commercial in KSA, GCC region and international

 Understanding of sustainability market trends and themes – particularly sustainable finance and investment

In-depth knowledge of key international sustainability standards and initiatives

In-depth knowledge of international disclosure regimes and rating agencies

Ability to effectively present information to top management

In-depth knowledge of strategic planning and measuring business performance especially in financial institutions

Strong problem solving, numerical and analytical/excel skills

Advanced data modelling, graphical representations and data visualizations skills